The black cat was supposed to be the witches familiar, so if the cat crossed in front of you, you had the witches favour and she wasn't going to curse you into oblivion. If it turned away from you, then it was probably best to head for the hills.....

The one that makes me giggle is the cat sleeping on the babys chest...(apart from it just being a bad idea, so best not to let it happen) but they believed that the cat on the babies chest was breathing out the soul of the baby...... wasn't just breathing in milky fumes, was it? :wacko:

Yes on the breathing in milk from the babies breath. And cats do open their mouths to smell too. So IMO thats why you see those old pics of the cats on the babies with their mouths open. I know our cats like to wrap arround the top of the kids heads in the winter time while they are sleeping to stay warm. Its a pretty funny thing to see.